Netherlands’ empty prisons serving as centers for asylum seekers
With crime declining in the Netherlands, the country is looking at new ways to fill its prisons. The government has let Belgium and Norway put prisoners in its empty cells and now, amid the huge flow of migrants into Europe, several Dutch prisons have been temporarily pressed into service as asylum seeker centers.
- Syrian refugee Alaa Mohammed, 35, watches TV in his room at the former prison of De Koepel in Haarlem, Netherlands. With crime declining in the Netherlands, the country is looking at new ways to fill its prisons. (AP Photo/Muhammed Muheisen)
- Amigrant plays with a girl at the former prison of Westlingen in Heerhugowaard northwestern Netherlands. The Dutch government has let Belgium and Norway put prisoners in its empty cells and now, amid the huge flow of migrants into Europe, several Dutch prisons have been temporarily pressed into service as asylum seeker centers. (AP Photo/Muhammed Muheisen)
- Afghan refugee Siratullah Hayatullah, 23, drinks tea by the doorway of his room at the former prison of De Koepel in Haarlem, Netherlands. (AP Photo/Muhammed Muheisen)
- Algerian migrant Mohammed Ben Salem, 36, left, and Libyan Amine Oshi, 22, smoke a cigarette at a yard of the former prison of De Koepel in Haarlem, Netherlands. With crime declining in the Netherlands, the country is looking at new ways to fill its prisons. The government has let Belgium and Norway put prisoners in its empty cells and now, amid the huge flow of migrants into Europe, several Dutch prisons have been temporarily pressed into service as asylum seeker centers. (AP Photo/Muhammed Muheisen)
- A Dutch volunteer teaches an Afghan refugee woman how to ride a bicycle at a yard in the former prison of De Koepel in Haarlem, Netherlands. With crime declining in the Netherlands, the country is looking at new ways to fill its prisons. (AP Photo/Muhammed Muheisen)
- Iraqi refugee Fatima Hussein, 65, prays inside her room at the former prison of De Koepel in Haarlem, Netherlands. With crime declining in the Netherlands, the country is looking at new ways to fill its prisons. (AP Photo/Muhammed Muheisen)
- Afghan refugee Shazia Lutfi, 19, peeks through the door of her room at the former prison of De Koepel in Haarlem, Netherlands. The government has let Belgium and Norway put prisoners in its empty cells and now, amid the huge flow of migrants into Europe, several Dutch prisons have been temporarily pressed into service as asylum seeker centers. (AP Photo/Muhammed Muheisen)
- Iranian migrant Reda Ehsan, 25, lies on a table at the former prison of De Koepel in Haarlem, Netherlands. With crime declining in the Netherlands, the country is looking at new ways to fill its prisons. The government has let Belgium and Norway put prisoners in its empty cells and now, amid the huge flow of migrants into Europe, several Dutch prisons have been temporarily pressed into service as asylum seeker centers. (AP Photo/Muhammed Muheisen)
- Refugees and migrants play football at the former prison of De Koepel in Haarlem, Netherlands. With crime declining in the Netherlands, the country is looking at new ways to fill its prisons. (AP Photo/Muhammed Muheisen)
- A Moroccan migrant poses for a picture inside his room at the former prison of De Koepel in Haarlem, Netherlands. With crime declining in the Netherlands, the country is looking at new ways to fill its prisons. The government has let Belgium and Norway put prisoners in its empty cells and now, amid the huge flow of migrants into Europe, several Dutch prisons have been temporarily pressed into service as asylum seeker centers. (AP Photo/Muhammed Muheisen)
- Afghan refugee Siratullah Hayatullah, 23, uses a washing room in the former prison of De Koepel in Haarlem, Netherlands. The Dutch government has let Belgium and Norway put prisoners in its empty cells and now, amid the huge flow of migrants into Europe, several Dutch prisons have been temporarily pressed into service as asylum seeker centers. (AP Photo/Muhammed Muheisen)
- Mongolian migrant Naaran Baatar, 40, plays basketball at a yard of the former prison of De Koepel in Haarlem, Netherlands. (AP Photo/Muhammed Muheisen)
- Yazidi refugee Yassir Hajji, 24, from Sinjar, Iraq, adjusts the eyebrow of his wife Gerbia,18, at their room in the former prison of De Koepel in Haarlem, Netherlands. (AP Photo/Muhammed Muheisen)
- An Afghan refugee holding a child looks outside a window of a room at the former prison of Westlingen in Heerhugowaard northwestern Netherlands. (AP Photo/Muhammed Muheisen)
- Afghan refugee Hamed Karmi, 27, plays keyboard next to his wife Farishta Morahami, 25, sitting on a bed inside their room at the former prison of De Koepel in Haarlem, Netherlands. The government has let Belgium and Norway put prisoners in its empty cells and now, amid the huge flow of migrants into Europe, several Dutch prisons have been temporarily pressed into service as asylum seeker centers. (AP Photo/Muhammed Muheisen)
- A migrant sits outside her room while another runs in the corridor of the women section of the former prison of De Koepel in Haarlem, Netherlands. With crime declining in the Netherlands, the country is looking at new ways to fill its prisons. (AP Photo/Muhammed Muheisen)
- Iraqi refugee Fatima Hussein, 65, reacts while she and others wait in a bus heading to have a government interview for their asylum seeking process outside the former prison of De Koepel in Haarlem, Netherlands. With crime declining in the Netherlands, the country is looking at new ways to fill its prisons. The government has let Belgium and Norway put prisoners in its empty cells and now, amid the huge flow of migrants into Europe, several Dutch prisons have been temporarily pressed into service as asylum seeker centers. (AP Photo/Muhammed Muheisen)
- Refugees and migrants line up to receive their lunch at the former prison of De Koepel in Haarlem, Netherlands. With crime declining in the Netherlands, the country is looking at new ways to fill its prisons. The government has let Belgium and Norway put prisoners in its empty cells and now, amid the huge flow of migrants into Europe, several Dutch prisons have been temporarily pressed into service as asylum seeker centers. (AP Photo/Muhammed Muheisen)
- Somali migrant Ijaawa Mohamed, 41, sits on a chair outside a room at the women’s section of the former prison of De Koepel in Haarlem, Netherlands. With crime declining in the Netherlands, the country is looking at new ways to fill its prisons. (AP Photo/Muhammed Muheisen)